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From the north the road goes up and down and through tunnels past the lake of Tignes. Starting from Bourg-Saint-Maurice, the climb to Col de l'Iseran is 48 km (30 mi). Over this distance, the road (D 902) ascends 1,955 m (6,414 ft), at an average grade of 4.1%. The last 15 km (9 mi) starts at Val-d'Isère and climbs 895 m (2,936 ft) at a consistent average of 6%.[1]

From the south, the climb starts at Lanslebourg-Mont Cenis and is 32.9 km (20.4 mi) in length, ascending 1,371 m (4,498 ft) at an average grade of 4.2%.[2] The final 13.4 km (8.3 mi) starts at Bonneval-sur-Arc and rises 977 m (3,205 ft) at an average gradient of 7.3%, with several sections in excess of 10%.[3]

On both sides of the Col de l'Iseran mountain pass cycling milestones mark the distance to the summit, the current altitude, and the average slope in the following kilometre.

The pass has been used five times on the Tour de France since 1947. It was scheduled to be used in 1996 but was left out at the last minute due to bad weather. As a result of snow on both the Col de l'Iseran and the Col du Galibier the scheduled 190 km (118 mi) stage from Val-d'Isère to Sestriere in Italy was truncated to a 46 km (29 mi) sprint from Le-Monetier-les-Bains.[6]Bjarne Riis claimed the sprint,[5] resulting in him taking the yellow jersey which he retained to the finish in Paris.